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Supplying you with information, advice and support
If you are considering educating your child at home, this fact sheet may answer some of the questions you have and help you in making your decision.
Elective home education is when a parent/carer makes an informed decision to remove their child from the school register and take responsibility for educating them full time at home.
The 1996 Education Act states that:
“It is the duty of parents to secure an appropriate full-time education for their children of compulsory school age.”
Parents can carry out this duty by ensuring their child attends school or parents may decide to take on the duty to educate their child/children themselves and educate them at home – this is called elective home education (EHE).
Parents/carers should never feel pressured to home educate their child by the school, for example, due to non-attendance or threat of permanent exclusion. This is a form of “off-rolling”. If you are thinking about EHE in these circumstances, you can contact PIASS and we can offer information, advice and support.
You will be responsible for arranging all direct teaching, materials and for organising any work experience placements.
If your child wants to take exams, you will also have to pay for any examination registration fee and assessment of coursework by an accredited person.
If a school or type of school is named in section I of your child’s EHC plan and you choose to electively home educate, the Local Authority no longer has a legal duty to secure any special educational provision set out in the EHC plan, because you are deemed to be making your own suitable alternative arrangements.
The SEND code of practice states that the Local Authority must still review the plan annually to assure itself that the provision set out in it continues to be appropriate and that your child’s special educational needs continue to be met.
If you feel that your child’s provision or current educational placement is not working out for them, it may be better to try to amend the EHC plan to set out different special educational provision and/or name a different setting rather than attempting to take on home
education without support. PIASS will be able to support you with this.
If school or college is not appropriate for your child or young person, the Local Authority can arrange for your child’s special educational provision to be delivered somewhere other than in a school, college or early years setting. This is often known as ‘education otherwise than at school’ (EOTAS).
The Local Authority would then be responsible for continuing to secure and fund that provision.
However, if you still feel that home education (rather than education other than at school) is right for your child, these are the steps you need to take:
If your child has an EHCP and attends a main- stream setting
Write to the school and explain that you want to home educate, at the same time you need to inform the Local Authority and request that they amend section I of the plan.
If your child has an EHCP and attends a specialist placement
Write to the Local Authority and request they are removed from the school roll and then once that is agreed the EHC plan can be amended.
If your child has SEN but does not have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and you choose to educate electively home, the Local Authority at does not have a legal duty to arrange special educational provision.
However, the SEND code of practice states that
“Local authorities should fund the SEN needs of home-educated children where it is appropriate to do so.” (Section 10 Paragraph 10.30)
If you feel that your child’s current educational placement is not working out for them or is in danger of breaking down, it might be worth speaking to the school or setting about SEND support. PIASS would also be able to support you with this.
If you decide to educate your child at home, you will be offered help and advice from the home education liaison officer who will offer visits at times that are mutually agreed.
The elective home education team will make an initial enquiry of the parent/carer to satisfy that a suitable education is taking place and that the family are offered access and opportunities to education and being sensitive to the child’s needs.
The Education Act places the obligation on the Local Authority to intervene if it appears that a child is not receiving an efficient education, which takes into account age, ability, aptitude and any special needs that the child may have.
Please note that if your child has not been on a school roll, there is no obligation for the
Local Authority to be made aware of your decision to electively home educate.
No. Elective home education can be more flexible and less rigid than at school. It depends on how you decide to organise your child’s education.
The home education liaison officer can discuss this with you, or you can refer to the Department for Education Elective Home Education Guide for Parents.
In Plymouth, children generally attend school full-time, except if there is a planned programme of re-integration.
If you choose to educate your child(ren) at home, their name(s) will be removed from the school register.
However, a parent may request that a head teacher admit his/her child for part-time, flexi-schooling. This arrangement is at the discretion of the head teacher and governors of the school. The child will be required to follow the national curriculum whilst at school but not whilst he or she is being home educated.
Your child can return to school at any time however, it is important to be aware that once your child’s name has been removed from the school’s roll, the school is not obliged to keep a place open for your child and therefore there may not be a place available at their original school.
Some home educators have a timetable showing the normal planned activities over a period of time similar to a school. Other parents choose to follow a form of ‘discovery’ education where the interests of the child are followed. Others use a mixture of these methods. The Local Authority’s interest is in establishing that a suitable education is taking place, rather than endorsing any particular method.
No. When a child is electively home educated, it is the decision of the parent as to what to teach and how the child learns. However, you may wish to be aware of the content of the national curriculum as it does provide a framework, especially if you intend to return your child to state education or to pursue more formal qualifications.
To help you make your decision, you may find it helpful to talk to someone who has experience of home education before making a final decision.
Try contacting the local support organisations to speak to parents/carers who are, or have been, home educating in your area.
If the decision to home educate has arisen because of a disagreement with a teacher or school and the issue has not been resolved following discussion with the head teacher or governors
Or
If your child is finding school very difficult and they are not managing
Or
If you think they might be permanently excluded (you shouldn’t feel pressured into ‘choosing’ home education)
Or
If you feel pressure from school staff to remove your child from school. (This is called off-rolling, and it can be the same as informal, illegal exclusion.)
Plymouth SEND Information, Advice & Support Service (PIASS) will be able to discuss options available to you to help resolve the issue.
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